WE LIKED
PROFILE There’s an awful lot of natural Thai rubber meeting the ground with this tyre, thanks to the 120/100 profile.
HOOKING UP Dylan liked the way the Motoz hooked up in the dry and dusty conditions at Bunyip State Forest and he’s a big boy. But he said that once the Motoz started spinning up on hills, forward progress halted. I had the same experience but backing off the throttle certainly helped the tyre.
PEACE PIPE Once we fitted the GYTR Nickle Torque Exhaust and Off-Road Flywheel on the YZ-X the Mountain Hybrid came into its own. With the power tamed and a little more grunt at the bottom end the Motoz spent a lot less time wheelspinning. Australia’s dust problem was solved.
PRESSURE We also tried dropping the tyre pressure from 15 to 10 pounds without any adverse effects on the handling.
LEGAL The tyre is legal for road use and has plenty of side blocks to provide grip when cornering on the road.
WE DIDN’T LIKE
WIDTH We had a bit of trouble jamming the inflated tyre into the YZ-X swingarm and resorted to dropping the chainguide. The tyre only had 15 pounds in it but maybe if we’d dropped the pressure it would have been easier.
SIZES There’s only the 120/100×18 available for the back and no fronts, so the idea of running these front and rear is out for now. Some riders might also prefer a more conventional 130/90 for the rear.
WEAR The Mountain Hybrid runs all-natural rubber, so don’t go thinking you can do 10,000km on one. Dylan took the leading edge off it in an hour’s riding (inset) but it was still generating good grip and it is reversible.
VERDICT
This type of hybrid tyre-ply technology has been tried before but we reckon it’s got potential for bikes like Beta’s Xtrainer and KTM’s Freeride. It wouldn’t be much fun in the depths of winter but we haven’t had much rain lately and the Mountain Hybrid has performed really well in the dry. Being road legal but with a two-ply tread, it offers a surprising level of traction for what appears to be a “dualsport” tyre. Wolter Kuiper
$139.95 (120/100-18 only)
John Titman Racing
jtr.com.au
(07) 3245 7499
For the full Prod Eval, check out issue #440 of ADB Magazine
